Second suspect arrested in Los Angeles airport ice bombs

LOS ANGELES A second airport employee was arrested on Friday in connection with two dry ice explosions at the Los Angeles International Airport, police said.

Miguel Angel Iniguez, a 41-year-old employee of airport contractor Servisair, was taken into custody while he was working at the airport, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

Police officials did not immediately detail the allegations against Iniguez but said he was a supervisor for 28-year-old Dicarlo Bennett, a Servisair baggage handler who pleaded not guilty on Thursday to explosives charges and was being held on $1 million bail.

One of the bombs detonated on Sunday evening in an employee restroom and the second exploded outside the Tom Bradley International Terminal on Monday, causing some flight disruptions. An unexploded device was found later that night.

Authorities have said there were no connections to terrorism in the case. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney told reporters on Thursday police were investigating whether another person was involved in the incident, but gave no further details.

Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon had said on Wednesday that Bennett intended the ice bombs to be a prank, but added: "It's not a prank and it's going to be dealt with very seriously."

The type of blast caused by dry ice is typically created by putting dry ice into a bottle or other container and sealing it tightly, which allows pressure to build until it explodes.

Bennett is suspected of having obtained the dry ice via his job at the airport, prompting officials there to announce that they would change policies regarding handling of the materials.

Bennett's lawyer, Ben Wasserman, has said the charges against his client were too severe, and Bennett had no intent to cause any destruction. He could face up to six years in prison if convicted.

In May, a similar device went off at Disneyland, forcing evacuation of a section of the park in Anaheim, California.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Bailey and Lisa Shumaker)

Next In U.S.

NEW YORK A crane collapse in February that killed one person, injured three pedestrians and flattened parked cars along a busy street in New York City was the result of operator error, a city report concluded on Friday.

The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System's board has halted withdrawals from a deferred retirement plan following a lawsuit by the city's mayor, who claimed withdrawals were accelerating the $2.7 billion pension system's descent into insolvency.

Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: